I'm going to see about a boy...

We are sure cute for two ugly people

I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else

But you.

Is it there?

"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now." -Epictetus

With time flying by so quickly, I've found myself both living in the future and trying to grab on to the hours, and days that are left and hold on to them. Already I have been here for three months and, though at the time they seemed to pass slowly, I look back on all my experiences and it feels as if I've blinked to arrive at this moment.

As tradition would have it in my Christmas world, Kendra and I decorated her mini tree to the sounds of the Elvis Christmas album at 2 in the morning on Friday night. Earlier that evening we had attended a community chorale and orchestral concert in Limoges with Melek and Benjamin (who was in the show, playing his clarinet). 

We knew we were in France when there were high school students up on stage, dressed in chic black with differently colored scarfs draped around their necks, singing in beautiful harmony to the accompaniment of a harpsichord. How great is that?

The car ride home was a vocabulary exchange of road words which quickly turned in to a lesson in essential swear words when Benjamin said, in a French accent, "The windows are all fogged up." You can imagine where it went from there. All this to a soundtrack of ABBA hits.

I'm spending today cooped up in my warm little home, the slushy rain pounding down and inviting no one to come and play. I have three new books to read, and lessons to plan for the little ones, and moments to savor. 

I HEART MINNEAPOLIS, Oh and it snowed here.

This is the view from my apartment, it was snowing all day yesterday, but none of it stuck.

I really do heart MPLS.

I got all sorts of love in the mail today. A postcard from Pella, IA, a Christmas card from Oregon, and a big fat package from Britches! Complete with the sweatshirt I'm sporting in the picture, it also had a great picture of us in Florence, multilingual swearing playing cards, and anything else my heart could desire.

I'm feeling the pang in my heart as the holiday season approaches, as I realize that this is my first Christmas not spent at home. I couldn't ask for more love and wonderful people in my life to be encouraging me and loving me up from across the pond.

I felt like I was walking in a movie yesterday as Kendra and I strolled through my picturesque rural French town, dusted with snow and smelling of fireplaces and freshly made crepes on the street. I heart Gueret, too. 

Mieux en retard que jamais: Photos from Prague

On top of the astronomical clock tower, I was actually there!

I told you it was creepy...

Mmm, potato dumplings and sauerkraut.

Me, Kendra, and Vanessa. We did not intend to match.

That's right! $2.00 for that beer. Bois-la!

Gigi:Gueret, Laura:Paris

My happy home!

Bienvenue!

I braved the self-sanitizing toilets of Paris...

The view from Montmartre

Just us girls in front of Sacre Coeur

Home Again Home Again, Jiggedy jig!

Ahh, Dublin! Laura and I parted ways yesterday at the airport after three whirlwind days in the Irish capital. 

We woke up in Paris on Wednesday morning around 6 o'clock and started what we both described as the longest day of our lives. Time seemed to crawl, as we arrived in Dublin around 11 am, and it felt like dinner time. 

I think we pooped ourselves out with the anticipation of staying in Temple Bar, a neighborhood known for its night life. We bummed around and got a feel for the city, popped in and out of some shops (I bought an ankle brace to prevent further damage), and had our first "Irish" meal: Guinness and curry.

After resting a little, we decided to go check out the Guinness Brewery, an enormous multimedia center in a building the shape of a pint glass. At the top, the Gravity Bar, you can enjoy a pint and 360 degree views of the city. It was beautiful. We even got to learn the secrets to pour our own pints, certificates included.

Later on, we found a cute little Italian restaurant and ended up having great conversation and dinner for the better part of four hours. At the end, we started chatting to the couple next to us about anything and everything. They bought us flaming shots of Sambuca and our night continued in good spirits.

Thursday was spent for the most part on our own, as Laura had a tour of the Vet school at University College Dublin. I took advantage of this time and indulged my love of museums, by myself! 

First stop: The Irish National Library, where there was a (free!) exhibit on the life and works of William Butler Yeats. I lost myself in in for a few hours, striking up a conversation with a history professor from Trinity, who proceeded to educate me more than the exhibit had. I found the original poem that is quoted on my father's epitaph. I felt, for a moment, that I was in Dublin with my dad.

Afterwards, I went to Dublin Castle, which was swarmed with Irish Catholic schools girls, and so I turned the other way to the Chester Beatty Library. The exhibits there were "Arts of the Book," and "Sacred Traditions." Beautiful illuminated texts in Arabic, Latin, and Chinese, as well as ancient copies of the Qur'an, Bible and Buddhist texts. 

That night, we were a little tired from travel and found our selves at a pub and bored. So, I blurted out "Dublin is boring," and swoop! Five Irish lads begged to differ and offered to prove us wrong. They were out on an annual guys night and invited us along to their pub crawl. Pints, pints, and more pints, along with some dancing to good old American pop music, brought us back to our hotel room around 4am. 

Of course the next day was shot as a result, and we took turns napping and feeling crabby, and preparing for our departure. We went to a super cool sushi restaurant for dinner - the kind with the conveyor belt of food going by right in front of your face. We returned to our hotel for an early night, and then music started.

Apparently our hotel room is directly above a stage, and on Saturday nights there is live music. We toughed it out for a while, but then I just had to go listen to it in person. I left Laura in bed and got dress and went on an adventure by myself. After a few drinks at what I discovered later to be the gay bar, I jumped back out onto the street into the sea of people and found, much to my surprise Laura and the bar with the music. We listened for a while (great cover band), and then tried a few other places...

Three am arrived and the band stopped. Good night Dublin.

As much as I love traveling and fall in love with the cities I visit, I am always happy to come back to the country, my little town in the heart of France. It is sunny and beautiful in the valley today, I have clean sheets and love letters from my siblings. Life is good.

A mosaic in Dublin, across the street from Trinity College

The Perfect Pint.

My Goodness, My Guinness! 

More scenes from the Guinness Brewery

Cheers!

It's been a while...

I'm officially connected to the world again via the internet! I will be posting photos of Prague, Paris, and Dublin when I get back on Sunday night.

It's good to be back.